Private Tour Jerusalem Old City

The listing prices this tour at $500 per group, not per person. A group is up to six travellers, and the booking form takes one to six people aged 0 to 99. That means the cost per head falls sharply as the group grows: six travellers pay about $83 each, while two travellers pay $250 each for the same guide.

The guide works through a guide network rather than a single company, and the listing says your guide will contact you after booking so you can customise the tour together.

What is included

The inclusion list is short. You get a private English-speaking guide for five hours, the customisation conversation before the date, and service animals are allowed.

What you pay extra

Entry fees are not included on this route. Several stops are free to enter, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall plaza. Others cost money if you go inside: the Austrian Hospice rooftop terrace, which the route includes for the view, charges 5 NIS ($1.62), and the Basilica of Saint Anne and the Pools of Bethesda cost 12 NIS ($3.88).

Food and drinks are not included, and there is no hotel pickup or drop-off, so you make your own way to Jaffa Gate. Public transport options are available nearby.

• Included: private guide for five hours, all ages welcome, up to six travellers, service animals allowed
• Not included: entry fees such as the Austrian Hospice rooftop at 5 NIS ($1.62) or Saint Anne and the Pools of Bethesda at 12 NIS ($3.88)
• Not included: food and drinks
• Not included: hotel pickup and drop-off, the walk starts and ends at Jaffa Gate

Cancellation is straightforward. Cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled start for a full refund. Inside that window the listing does not state a refund, so treat the booking as committed once you are within a day of the start.

The tour starts at Jaffa Gate, one of the eight gates of the Old City and the main entrance for visitors. The listing allows about 20 minutes here, and the walk passes the Tower of David, one of the emblematic buildings of Jerusalem, built on remains of older defences.

The Temple Mount plateau

Next the route reaches the plateau where the two Jewish Temples stood, which later served as headquarters for the Crusaders and today holds the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. The listing allows about 30 minutes. The Temple Mount, known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif, admits non-Muslim visitors only through the Mughrabi Gate, by the bridge from the Western Wall plaza, during limited morning and early-afternoon hours from Sunday to Thursday.

It is closed to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and various Muslim and Jewish holidays, and can close at short notice. Visitors stay in the open courtyards and do not enter the buildings. Check on the day whether entry is possible, and if it is not, expect the guide to substitute a viewpoint over the plateau.

The Western Wall

The listing allows about 20 minutes at the Kotel, also called the Wailing Wall, which Jewish tradition holds is the most significant site in the world for the Jewish people, where Jews have prayed for centuries. The plaza is open to all, and modest dress applies. The Western Wall Tunnels along the length of the Wall are visited only on a separate guided tour booked through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, so they are not part of this walk.

Read our Western Wall page for the details.

After the Western Wall the route crosses to the Christian Quarter, with stops in the Jewish Quarter on the way. The listing allows about 20 minutes at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christian tradition holds that Jesus was crucified on Mount Golgotha, buried in a nearby tomb and rose again after three days, making the Tomb of Resurrection the central place of Christian faith. Entry is free.

Summer hours run 05:00 to 20:45, October closes at 20:00, and winter hours run 04:00 to 19:00. See our Church of the Holy Sepulchre page for more.

The Jewish Quarter stops

Two short stops follow. The Broad Wall, about 10 minutes, takes you back through archaeology and the Old Testament to the days of Hezekiah in the seventh century BCE, when the city was saved from destruction. The Roman Cardo, another 10 minutes, was the main street of the city for centuries, the centre of commercial and social life.

The Via Dolorosa and the quarters

The route then joins the Via Dolorosa at the third station, following the path tradition marks as the painful way of Jesus to his crucifixion. Just before that, the listing includes a rooftop view over the Mount of Olives from the Austrian Hospice, whose terrace costs 5 NIS ($1.62) and is open daily 10:00 to 22:00. Our Via Dolorosa page covers the full station route.

The remaining hours of the five-hour tour are spent walking the four quarters of the Old City, with the listing allocating about an hour each, taking in hidden corners, viewpoints and an African rooftop village along the way.

The listing asks for at least a moderate level of physical fitness. Five hours on stone streets, steps and slopes is real exercise, so anyone with limited mobility should think hard before booking. Wheelchair access is not stated by the listing, so ask the operator before you book if that matters to you.

All ages are welcome, from infants to 99, which makes this one of the few private options with no minimum age. The guide speaks English only, so travellers who need another language should look at the hotel pickup private listing, which offers a choice of 14 languages. The group is private, up to six people, and the booking takes one to six travellers per reservation.

• Fitness: moderate fitness needed, five hours mostly on foot
• Ages: all ages, 0 to 99, no minimum age
• Wheelchair: not stated, ask the operator before booking
• Language: English only
• Group: private, up to six people, no strangers added
• Dress: knees and shoulders covered for places of worship and selected museums, no shorts or sleeveless tops, for men and women alike, and you may risk refused entry if you do not comply
• Documents: none stated for this route

The listing's own honest note is that the price is per group of up to six. The consequence is simple: with one or two travellers the cost per head is high compared with a shared group tour, and the tour makes sense mainly for larger parties or travellers who specifically want a guide to themselves.

This listing and its twin, the Jerusalem: Old City Private Tour with Hotel Pickup, differ on three points. The twin costs $191 per group against $500 here, lasts a flexible three to five hours against a fixed five, meets you at your hotel in central Jerusalem against Jaffa Gate here, and offers a choice of 14 languages against English only. The twin excludes children under 6, while this tour takes all ages.

If you want the cheapest private option, a non-English guide or a hotel start, pick the twin. If you want the fixed five-hour route from Jaffa Gate with no age limit, this one fits.

Here is how this tour stacks up against the closest alternatives in our catalog for a day in the Old City. Figures current for Q4 2026.

The verdict by reader: groups of four to six who want a private guide get clear value here and from the Four Quarters tour. Couples and solo travellers save a lot with either shared walking tour. Travellers who need a language other than English or a hotel meeting point should take the hotel pickup private listing instead.